Once Upon A December
by Sabaye Leyr
Summary: Laguna's first and final Christmas with Raine Loire...


raine_december

Once Upon A December   
by Sabaye Leyr

Author's Note: Okaay...Sylin from Seifer's Song is in here. It might prove a little spoiler for the 4th chapter of the story, which shall be posted soon, but it shouldn't. Enjoy! Oh and I've changed the time line a little bit...Seifer's birthday is a couple days later than the stragety guide says it is. 

Light from the moon filtered through the small houses and into the small town square of Winhill. It cast silvery shadows on the tall dark haired man that entered   
the quiet, sleeping town. He had a machine gun slung over his shoulders, and his long thick hair was pulled back with a band. A soft wind passed through the town, pulling some of his hair down across his eyes. The man ignored it, and quickened his pace, his footsteps echoing dully, as if even the ground the town stood on didn't want his presence there. His footsteps faded as he stopped at the door to a pub. No lights were lit, and an eerie echo sounded as the door creaked open.   
Laguna Loire found himself looking into the barrel of a gun.   
"Hey, Raine...it's me." he said, startled. The gun was lowered and the voice that was not his loved ones replied, cold and harsh.   
"There is no Raine here." it said, and Laguna peered into the darkness, only making out shadowed, harsh chiseled features. Laguna stepped boldly into the darkness, swinging his machine gun off his shoulder.   
"Who the hell are you? And where is my wife and daughter?" Laguna demanded, and his only reply was silence. The gun was aimed at his heart this time when the figure raised his weapon again.   
"You have nothing left here, outsider, so leave before I kill you." he snarled, the lines on his face becoming deep and cruel with anger and hatred. Laguna retreated several steps, and the door slammed in his face. His hearing picked up the man leaving through the back, and Laguna carefully opened the door again. When he stepped into the pub, the difference was noticeable immediately.   
The surface of the bars were no longer so clean that they gleamed; they were covered in dust and a dark, nearly black stain marred the floor. The air was thick and stuffy, as if it hadn't been aired out. Raine's cat, Skye, scampered out of the shadows and meowed pitifully. She was thin and dirty. Laguna, deeply disturbed, bent over and rubbed the cats head. Skye began to purr happily, twisting her body around Laguna's legs. 

_Dancing bears, painted wings..._

Looking around a little more, Laguna found the remains of Ellone's Halloween Costume. The angel wings were bent, and the more Laguna looked, the more things he saw, the more nervous he became. Fear rose within Laguna, twisting up through his stomach and wrapping around his heart. Forgetting everything, he ran upstairs, flinging open the door. An abandoned baby bassinet sat by the large bed, and it was in the same shape as the downstairs, besides the haunting smell of flowers. A dark figure appeared behind him.   
"I told you to leave, outsider!" the man snarled, but he was without his gun this time.   
"Not until I find my wife!" Laguna shouted back, the fear turning his blood icy as he ignored all pretense and shouted, forgetting and not caring about the sleeping town.   
"You won't find her, I told you! Your wife is of the departed." The man told him sharply, and the fear around his heart seemed to tighten, making it hard to breathe. Laguna, taking a step backwards, shook his head in denial.   
"You don't believe me? Look out in the field if you wish. But then leave." the man said, and turned on his heel, stomping down the stairs noisily. 

_Things I almost remember_

Laguna's world spun around him, images and memories of Raine Loire twisting and blending together to form a jumble. He couldn't filter out one single memory, part of his mind wanted to remember as much of her as it could, the other wanted to remember one special moment. His wish came true, as the images twisted together, they melted into a brightly lite room, full of laughter and singing... 

_And a song someone sings..._   
_Once Upon a December_

The room smelled of cookies and cinnamon, Christmas lights on the tree twinkling merrily, the air thick and warm. Raine was outside, hanging a wreath outside the pub, her breath misting up the big picture window as Ellone added glass balls and other ornaments onto the Christmas Tree. Laguna could be heard in the back of the pub, in the kitchen, whistling and checking on the cakes and cookies rising in the oven. There was a suprised cry and an explosion of white from the kitchen as Raine came back inside, stamping her feet on the mat. 

"Laguna? What happened?" the woman asked, her striking blue eyes reflecting the multicolored lights on the Christmas tree.   
"I dropped the flour bag." came his muffled reply. There were several knocks on the door.   
"Elle, can you get that?" Raine asked her adoptive daughter, who nodded and hurried over to the door. A woman stood at the door, a cloak held tightly about her as she tried to keep herself warm. She had dark eyes and long blonde hair that was thick with snowflakes. She smiled at Ellone and stepped inside. Raine was in the kitchen, and suddenly there was laughter erupting from the room.   
"You!" she shouted at Laguna, her eyes lighting up with laughter. He was covered in flour, the white settling in his hair. Raine was laughing at him, white stirring up and settling on her shoes everytime she moved. A smile lit up the visitors face, and she laughed. Raine's head turned to one side as she heard the sound, and she suddenly whipped around.   
"Sylin!" she said, her eyes widening in surprise. Sylin's smile grew wider, and Raine ran over to her, wrapping her arms around the blonde woman.   
"I heard that you were having a Christmas party. I thought I'd drop by." Sylin explained to Raine. Raine's smile faded just a bit. She lowered her voice.   
"Mexius is allowing you to come here?" she asked, and Sylin shrugged.   
"There wasn't much he could do." Sylin said, anger flashing across her face at the mention of her bedmate. She took off her cloak, revealing a shirt pulled taut over her stomach. Raine's eyes widened, and she grinned again.   
"Really? Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Raine cried, throwing her arms around her best friend again.   
"My son, shall be named after me. He will not carry his bastard of a fathers name, I swear that to you." Sylin told her friend with such force that Raine stepped backwards. After recovering, she cleared her throat.   
"Okay, we're here to celebrate. Laguna, come out here." she shouted across the room. There was a soft reply. "I don't care how old you look! Get your weeny butt out here!" Raine shouted back. Laguna reluctantly came around the corner, and stood next to Raine. She wrapped her arm around his waist.   
"Sylin, this is my daughter Ellone..." Ellone smiled and waved at Sylin. "And my husband Laguna." She placed her head on his shoulder briefly, not being able to resist the urge to hug him. 

_Someone holds me safe and warm..._

More knocks on the door. Raine pulled herself away from Laguna and pulled open the front door. Kiros, Ward, and a friend of Raine's named Edea and her husband stood out in the oncoming blizzard, their hair dusted in snow. A pair of black horses pranced impatiently, waiting to be covered. Laguna spoke to the younger man, around 25, and told him the horses could be put in the garage of the abandoned house next door. The man nodded, leading the horses off into the snow. 

_Horses prance through a silver storm_   
_Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory..._

Raine pulled the cookies out of the stove and placed them on a table while everyone gathered around, the number of cookies quickly diminishing. Everyone quickly broke off into groups, talking and laughing.   
Laguna felt slightly uncomfortable. Apparently no one but Sylin was from Winhill, but she no longer lived there and felt no hard feelings toward him. He knew that Winhill hated him, and he wished to avoid the townspeople whenever he could. He felt Raine's soft touch on his arm and turned around. Sylin was sitting at the keyboard that Raine had rented for the evening. She flexed her fingers and began to play. A haunting tune filled the air. Raine took Laguna's hand and led him into a space, and began to dance with him. Halfway through the song, Sylin hesitantly began to sing as Raine laid her head on Laguna's shoulder.   
"_Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember....Things my heart, used to know, things it yearns to remember..._" Laguna felt Raine's head on his shoulder, her soft hair, and watching in despair as the memory and Sylin's voice spun away into the dark, stuffy room. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, and in a daze, stumbled down the stairs and into the field. The downstairs room he passed through barely seemed the same from his memory. He walked into the moonlight bathed field, and a smooth, flat tombstone stood out in the silvery grass. Laguna stumbled over to it, running his fingers over the engraved name.   
_ Raine Loire_. His fingers traced the words over and over again as sobs racked his body. His son and his daughter were gone. That Christmas was the time Raine told him she was pregnant with their child, the chirstmas where Sylin's son Seifer was born. His first and last christmas with his beloved Raine. His sobs soon dissolved into a fitfull sleep, full of a haunting tune. 

_And a song someone sings_   
_Once upon a December..._   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
